Outlaw’s New Road represents a change in tack for the UK’s greatest seafood chef. Previously Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Outlaw’s New Road is a ‘more inclusive and accessible’ restaurant that has ditched tasting menus in favour of a much simpler – and quicker – a la carte experience. The quality and overall style of the cooking has not changed, however, the biggest difference being that lowering the price point allows Outlaw and team to further champion delicious but underused local seafood (there’s also less pressure to serve premium but obvious ingredients such as lobster and scallops).
Dishes include raw sea bass with pea and mint; soused Dover Sole with broad beans and green sauce; and John Dory with hispi cabbage, clotted cream and peppercorn sauce. Outlaw has been cooking from a young age – his CV includes time with Gary Rhodes, Eric Chavot and fellow Cornwall-based seafood maestro Rick Stein – and has focused on seafood for the majority of his career. This shines through in his distinctive, vibrant cooking that always lets the quality of the catch do the talking.
Outlaw’s New Road was refitted ahead of relaunching in 2020 but it remains a simple affair so as not to distract from the restaurant’s stunning Atlantic coast views. There is one service at lunch and a split seating in the evening, with diners given just under two hours to eat.
Outlaw used to run restaurants outside Cornwall – including a place in London and even one in Dubai – but is now putting all his energy into his Port Isaac mini empire (he also runs the smaller and more casual Outlaw’s fish kitchen just down the road). “What makes me happy these days is the guys in the kitchen being happy, cooking the best fish I can find and the restaurant being busy,” he says. “Over the last 10 years I’ve been running around like a blue-arsed fly. It’s now time to relax and enjoy what I do.”
